
WHO
WE ARE
STAFF
Wendy McDermott
Executive Director
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Brown’s Canyon and west faces of the Sawatch Range and Cochetopa Hills

Adam provides leadership and supervision over strategic, programmatic and financial operations that support the Conservancy’s conservation programs. He holds a PhD in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources from Colorado State University (2011), and has over 23 years of collaborative conservation experience in the Rocky Mountain West and abroad (South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Niger, Ghana). Adam is an avid mountain biker, backcountry snowboarder and alpine enthusiast.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
anywhere in the alpine on the Sawatch range
Wendy...
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Agricultural Projects Manager
Natalie Allio

Adam provides leadership and supervision over strategic, programmatic and financial operations that support the Conservancy’s conservation programs. He holds a PhD in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources from Colorado State University (2011), and has over 23 years of collaborative conservation experience in the Rocky Mountain West and abroad (South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Niger, Ghana). Adam is an avid mountain biker, backcountry snowboarder and alpine enthusiast.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
anywhere in the alpine on the Sawatch range
The focus of Natalie’s work is “keeping working lands working” through innovative and collaborative programs with Central Colorado Conservancy and the Upper Arkansas Conservation District. Drawing on her own experience in agriculture and her education in Ecopsychology and Collaborative Solutions in Natural Resources, Natalie leads innovative and collaborative programs that support water quality, water quantity and soil health in the Upper Arkansas Watershed.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado: pretty much any place that can be accessed from the back of a horse
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Brown’s Canyon and west faces of the Sawatch Range and Cochetopa Hills
Sarah Hamilton
Agriculture Projects Manager
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Brown’s Canyon and west faces of the Sawatch Range and Cochetopa Hills
Watershed Restoration Specialist
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Brown’s Canyon and west faces of the Sawatch Range and Cochetopa Hills
Membership Coordinator
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Brown’s Canyon and west faces of the Sawatch Range and Cochetopa Hills

Adam provides leadership and supervision over strategic, programmatic and financial operations that support the Conservancy’s conservation programs. He holds a PhD in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources from Colorado State University (2011), and has over 23 years of collaborative conservation experience in the Rocky Mountain West and abroad (South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Niger, Ghana). Adam is an avid mountain biker, backcountry snowboarder and alpine enthusiast.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
anywhere in the alpine on the Sawatch range
Buffy coordinates our collaborative watershed restoration projects. She holds a BS in Conservation Biology from Middlebury College and a Master’s degree in Ecology from Colorado State University. She and her husband served in the Peace Corps in Mexico, conserving the natural resources of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve. They are raising three daughters who love to camp, ski and paddle board--and hope to grow deep roots in the Arkansas River Valley.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
the combination of many wonderful places like O'Haver Lake, Fooses Creek, Mt. Princeton Hot Springs, any aspen grove...
Buffy Lenth

Adam provides leadership and supervision over strategic, programmatic and financial operations that support the Conservancy’s conservation programs. He holds a PhD in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources from Colorado State University (2011), and has over 23 years of collaborative conservation experience in the Rocky Mountain West and abroad (South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Niger, Ghana). Adam is an avid mountain biker, backcountry snowboarder and alpine enthusiast.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
anywhere in the alpine on the Sawatch range
Sarah implements collaborative programs to help producers and landowners meet the challenges facing agriculture today. She lives in Leadville and works in with the Lake County Conservation District around issues of water, land and soil health. She grew up living and working on a farm in the lower Arkansas Valley and studied Biology at Colorado College. These experiences instilled in her a passion for connecting people with how and where their food is grown and for viewing conservation through the lens of agriculture.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Any swimming hole along the Arkansas River on a hot day

Adam provides leadership and supervision over strategic, programmatic and financial operations that support the Conservancy’s conservation programs. He holds a PhD in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources from Colorado State University (2011), and has over 23 years of collaborative conservation experience in the Rocky Mountain West and abroad (South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Niger, Ghana). Adam is an avid mountain biker, backcountry snowboarder and alpine enthusiast.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
anywhere in the alpine on the Sawatch range
As membership coordinator, Julie is the first person to get to know you at the Conservancy. Her work with the Land Trust of the Upper Arkansas began in the spring of 2013. She is from Kansas City where she grew up, raised her children, was a board member and volunteered with Wildwood Outdoor Education Center, and was an elementary teacher for over 25 years. In 2003, she assumed the role of director at the girl’s camp, High Trails Ranch, Sanborn Western Camps in Florissant, CO for the next 10 years.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
looking out her front window, sunrises, sunsets, stars and exploring around Salida
Julie Richardson
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Favorite Place(s)
in Central Colorado:
the view from the top of Mt. Elbert when the aspens are changing, the swimming beach by Rincon and the view of the Collegiates from Trout Creek Pass
Hallie Mahowald
Board President

Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
anywhere in the unroaded backcountry that has fish and elk
Favorite Place(s)
in Central Colorado:
anywhere along the Continental Divide Trail
Rob White
Secretary

Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Favorite Place(s)
in Central Colorado:
anywhere the birds can be heard unobstructed by the sounds of civilization high up in the Sawatch Range
Gina Peters
Board Member
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Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
anywhere in the unroaded backcountry that has fish and elk
Favorite Place(s)
in Central Colorado:
anywhere in the unroaded backcountry that has
fish and elk
Aaron Kindle
Vice President

Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Favorite Place(s)
in Central Colorado:
Penitente Canyon grabs my heart—climbing, hiking, forest, desert, night-sky camping and cultural history
John McGowan
Treasurer
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Favorite Place(s)
in Central Colorado:
Brown’s Canyon and west faces of the Sawatch Range and Cochetopa Hills
Robert Tallmadge
Board Member